


Still Worth Fighting For

by daughter_of_hades_123



Series: My World Is Reflected In Your Eyes [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Hurt Stephen Strange, Infinity Gems, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Minor Carol Danvers/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Protective Tony Stark, Scott Lang & Tony Stark Friendship, Scott is a Good Friend, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark may or may not be human, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange parenting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-10 00:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18648895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daughter_of_hades_123/pseuds/daughter_of_hades_123
Summary: "We're gonna be okay. You can rest now, Toni."-In the aftermath of the endgame, earth mourns the loss of it's greatest defender, leaving behind a child and newly widowed husband.Only the universe has other plans-Antoinette Stark is more worthy than anyone ever thought possible. And when given the chance to bring forth a better, brighter future than what she'd given, well...she'd always prided herself on being somewhat of an overachiever.





	Still Worth Fighting For

**Author's Note:**

> So I like JUST SAW Endgame and spent maybe about a whole day crying afterward. In case you couldn't tell, Iron Man and Spiderman are probably two of, if not my favorite heroes and while I won't give spoilers, to those of you who have also seen Endgame you probably understand my pain.
> 
> That being said though, this story does contain SPOILERS!!! For if you have NOT seen the movie yet, a fair bit of warning.
> 
> And was it just me, or even if it was for like the span of a few seconds, was there still a small bit of Ironstrange moments sprinkled in there? Maybe I'm just a shipping mess right now.

"I am  **inevitable,** " Thanos says triumphantly.

Time slows to a crawl as history repeats itself.

It still wasn't enough. Captain Marvel, the fallen and new fighters rising-even Pepper had joined the fray with her newly customized Rescue suit. And yet, Thanos was still beating them.

Somehow, he had gotten his hands on the Infinity Gauntlet. His bejeweled fingers were poised to snap them all way into oblivion, only this time, there would be no second chance, no great comeback.

She had lost the kid, and Toni couldn't handle that a second time.

Her eyes do a quick panicked sweep of everyone on the battlefield, meeting an all-too familiar wizard's gaze as her brown eyes met the blue-green ones that conveyed a message meant only for her, saying,  _out of millions of possibilities, there is only one reality where they would win_.

_But what is it? What's the deciding factor!?_  she wants to scream. Because even after everything they've accomplished, even after everything they've lost, it isn't enough. Captain Marvel had been batted aside like a fly, along with Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, and the others.

_Who could stop the inevitable?_ she wonders.

Then, in the seconds that follow, realization washes over in a series of flashbacks. The answer made blatantly obvious.

_"The only thing you really fight for is yourself."Steve said, his words punctuated by the cold look of disapproval that shone in his eyes. "You know you may not be a threat, but you'd better stop pretending to be a hero."_

The scene changes.

_"Can you believe that **all**  of that came from  **this** little thing?" Pepper smiled warmly, lovingly, at Toni while placing a hand over the arc reactor embedded in the billionaire's chest._

Again.

_"Don't waste it. Don't waste your life."_

And again.

_She remembers how much she hated herself for what she had become; remembers thinking that if she had just been more proactive in what went on with her own damn business, Yin Sin and his family would still be alive. And despite Pepper's insistence that she had had no way of knowing, the guilt ate away at her each and every night._

_A guilt that slowly morphed into full-blown fear when she met Ivan's son, Whiplash._

_She remembers his words: "You come from family of thieves. And now, like all guilty men you try and rewrite your own history, forgetting all the lives you ruined."_

She thinks, between flashbacks, that she is no hero. At the end of the day, all she is is just plain old Toni. She's a mechanic. A tinkerer.

And again.

_"You've created a lot of incredible inventions, Stark. War isn't one of them."_

And maybe it's because the words had come from Fury, the very last person she expected to be trying to lift her spirits after the whole Ultron debacle that moves her, maybe it's not. But she still hates herself for the few traitorous tears that spill out onto her face right then and there.

"Is this the last act of defiance of the great Toni Stark?" Thanos challenges.

Determination surges inside of her then, calling on a strength she didn't think she had.

She holds Stephen's gaze for just a second longer, mouthing words that catch him by surprise-

_I love you three-thousand._

"Take care of our child." She lunges for Thanos before Stephen can process things.

Toni Stark was not a hero, at least not really by her own standards. But for her daughter, for Pepper and Peter, for Happy and Rhodey-Thanos picked the wrong universe to try and conquer. And it's high time someone drove that message into him.

_Dread it. Run from it, destiny arrives all the same._ Thanos's words from years before echo in her head.

She grapples with him for the gauntlet, and she is briefly reminded of the battle on Titan before he flings her away.

Silence seems to permeate the battlefield when Thanos snaps, half the forces expecting to be turned back into dust while the other half waits with bated breath. Only nothing happens. Thanos looks, confused, his expression quickly morphing into one of bewilderment looking and seeing six empty sockets where the stones had previously been-

She remembers first meeting Thanos.

_"Stark."  
_

_"You know me?"_

_"I do. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."_

_"My only curse is you."_

-he looks up in horror, seeing the familiar shine of six different colored gems as they shifted into place on Toni's hand. Her face set into one of grim defiance.

_You are inevitable_ , she thinks, but I-"And I...am Iron Maiden!"

_I love you three-thousand_ , Toni thinks to everyone she ever loved, just before snapping her fingers.

~x~

Toni didn't think of herself as a hero, but she was damn proud to be able to call herself a mom at the very least.

~x~

Rhodey is the first at her side after Thanos and his forces disintegrate.

They share a silent, knowing glance where Toni pretends she doesn't see the tears shining in his eyes, where he is probably trying to hopelessly convince himself she is still capable of continuing to live. Next is Peter…

"Hey Ms. Stark, we did it! We won, ma'am." He says, sounding winded and excited at the same time. But it takes only a second to realize she wasn't moving. His smile slips from his face. "Ms. Stark, we did it. You did it!" He reaches for her and Rhodey lets him, probably more focused with trying to hold it together himself.

When the kid starts sputtering apologies, unable to keep himself from openly sobbing. Toni thinks she might just start crying too. Her vision starts to blur just as a familiar red cape enters her line of sight.

Stephen looks at her. And she looks at Stephen. And despite no words being said, over a million things are being conveyed to one another.

Just like that fateful day after she had returned from Afghanistan, and Pepper dragged her to the nearest ER. Which turned out to be the best damn thing the redhead had ever done for her, since Stephen had been working that day.

"We had a daughter?" he asks, voice choked with emotion and tears swimming in those beautiful blue-green eyes. Wong stands not far away from him.

"Her name's Morgan." Toni rasps, managing a weak smile as she adds, "and she loves me three-thousand tons so you'll have to settle for second place, I'm afraid."

Stephen lets out a watery laugh. He slowly kneels down in front of her, his hands reaching for hers, the one which still held the faint glow of the infinity stones. Only she surprised him yet again, using the other hand to latch onto his bringing it to rest over the dimly glowing arc reactor.

"You saved everyone," Stephen says, his voice softer than anyone's ever heard it.

"Mm...didn't do it for everyone…."She mumbled back weakly.

She takes one last look around. Morgan wasn't there on the battlefield thankfully, but her and Happy aside, everyone Toni cared about was right in front of her.

"Love you...Stephan…."

Stephen pursed his lips for a moment seeming to shake his head in denial of something before putting on a fragile smile, "I know. I know, I-I love you too, and thank you. For everything." He leans forward, closing the small gap of distance between them with a kiss. The others-Pepper, Steve, Thor, Rhodey, Peter and everyone else-have all started crying now. "We're gonna be okay, thanks to you. We're gonna be okay, so you can rest now, Toni."

Stephen watches the glow of the arc reactor fade slowly before coming undone himself.

Everyone is too consumed by grief to notice the way a certain stone shone just a little brighter on Toni's hand before fading away with the rest of them.

~x~

"This one is not like the others," the voice belonging to a shimmering rich amber glow comments, feeling a familiar warmth tug at their very being reminiscent of their creator. "She reminds me of  **him** , albeit not as powerful it seems. Still I feel there is an unmistakable resemblance between them," the Soul Stone whispers to it's brethren, voice tinged with curiosity.

"Especially with the way she looks at the wizard," another voice pipes up, this one a tad less sincere, belonging to emerald green aura nearby; the Time Stone.

"She had much to lose and still took on the burden regardless," the Mind Stone hummed, bemused and recalling how the very same mortal had brushed off its attempt to control her. Those times now seem so far away, so long ago. "She knew the price she would pay."

"One could argue the true measure of any being comes when they are given power beyond imagination." The purple glow of the Power Stone shone a little brighter able to remember how despite there being a time when Thanos's intentions may have been for the best, they were still horribly misguided and at the very heart of things-he was as self-centered as the rest.

"Perhaps...this one warrants some semblance of mercy, given all that has transpired." The red glow of the Reality Stone grew with each spoken word, reaching out to its brethren for approval.

The surrounding stones all giving their consensus.

"But there must be a cost, we cannot give freely to one what we won't unto another."

"Agreed, what good is a second chance if one does not learn from it after all?" the Time Stone affirms.

The stones continue whispering among one another, formulating some kind of plan-a hope for a better future than the one wrought through the purple being's rage-

The Soul Stone shimmers a little brighter, the memory of Toni looking at Stephen filtering through it, suddenly echoing words spoken on the cliff of Vormir to Thanos himself, to the flame-haired girl and her companion-

"In order to reclaim that which she loves, Antoinette Stark must bring about a better, brighter future than the one created here today."

"So be it, just this once-we will grant mercy to the one who has earned it." The blue glow of the Space Stone resounds through the empty space between them, glowing brightly.

The six stones voice their agreement, their power surging outward. Each of them exerts the full force of their powers to bring about one final miracle.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually wrote this while trying to finish up another chapter for a different story of mine, so admittedly it may not have turned the best. Apologies!
> 
> I did obviously kind of swap Pepper and Strange out a little bit.


End file.
